1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a slide rail; and a sheet feeder and an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine including at least two of these functions, that includes a slide rail.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, drawers incorporated in furniture, office equipment, copiers, and the like, are pulled out therefrom and pushed therein using slide rails, and rolling elements such as ball bearings can be used to make sliding movements smooth. Additionally, cylindrical rollers are widely used instead of rolling elements to reduce costs and simplify processing and assembling of the slide rail.
For example, JP-2001-173305-A proposes a slide rail in which an inner rail mounted to an outer rail can be inserted therein and drawn out therefrom. In this configuration, an end rim of the inner rail is held between rollers attached to a protruding portion of the outer rail, and a roller attached to a tapered end of the inner rail is held between rims of the outer rail.
In slide rails using rollers, generally a lateral load of the roller is received by a small area of the slide rail. Accordingly, it is possible that the slide rail in contact with the roller is deformed elastically or plastically by lateral load, and the roller is disengaged therefrom. Additionally, movement of slide rails employing rollers tend to be less smooth compared with slide rails employing rolling elements.